DeChambeau An Intriguing Chap

By Rick Young Created: August 25, 2015

Rick Young

Rick Young

EQUIP AND BIZ

Copyright USGA/Chris Keane

Bryson DeChambeau reacts to holing out his pitch shot on the eighth hole during the final round of match play of the 2015 U.S. Amateur at Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Ill. on Sunday, Aug. 23, 2015.

Of the many ways to describe a player who has just won the U.S. Amateur, standard, trotted-out adjectives like ‘focused,’ ‘driven,’ or ‘dedicated,’ are just a few of the expressions you would anticipate being used.

Words you do not expect to hear? How about ‘eccentric? That’s the way Bryson DeChambeau, the 2015 winner, was portrayed by Paige Mackenzie of Golf Channel’s Morning Drive just 24 hours after the Southern Methodist University senior won the Havemeyer Trophy at Chicago’s Olympia Fields Sunday. Mackenzie’s fellow analyst Charlie Rymer used the slightly toned down, “unique” in his assessment but it too is not a term often used for aspiring young amateurs on the doorstep of the pro game.

This appears however to be a classic case of Mackenzie and Rymer simply calling it like they see it. That’s because DeChambeau is different, a breath of fresh air, or in this case a gust.

For starters he’s a gear head. Not only does he float his golf balls in Epsom salts to check which, if any, in a dozen, are out of balance but he plays the game with a set of golf clubs as unique as he is. It all focuses on his belief in the same single-plane swing for every club in the bag. To achieve that DeChambeau’s Edel custom cavity back (CB) irons all spec out at 37.5-inches with the same lie angle (72 degrees) and C8 swing-weight as do his Edel custom 50-, 55- and 60-degree wedges. He complements his entire set, including his shorter 43-inch TaylorMade SLDR 430 driver and SLDR 3-wood, with Jumbo Maxx XL grips. His putter is an Edel Torque Balance custom with a SuperStroke Slim 3.0 grip.

Rest assured no one playing at the game’s highest level has anything even remotely close to the customization of this set.

In an interview with Golf Digest’s Mike Stachura, University of Sherbrooke (Quebec) mechanical engineering professor Martin Brouillette, a member of the Golf Digest Hot List panel, said DeChambeau’s golf clubs, like golf swings, can be different but still achieve optimum efficiency for an individual.

“There is no practical and modern reason why irons should be all the same length,” Brouillette told Stachura. “By the proper variation of clubhead loft and inertia properties you can get the same distance and gapping as ‘normal’ sets.”

As far as DeChambeau floating his golf balls, that too is hardly a new initiative. Wilson Golf used the same methodology and marketing platform back in 2002 when it brought out its True golf ball. What is new is having a modern player with a high-profile publicly acknowledging the practice.

Certainly it gives the reigning U.S. Amateur and NCAA Division I champion a couple unique points of differentiation.

But for me what really makes DeChambeau stand out from a marketability aspect is his look. Specifically it’s his headwear.

In a game where it can often be tough to tell one player from another, a la baseball cap and wraparound sunglasses, the 21-year-old physics major’s traditional Ben Hogan style cap conjures up memories not only of the legendary Hawk but also of the late Payne Stewart, who also wore the fashion forward chapeau for the majority of his pro career.

“You could be three to four fairways away but it was never hard to locate where Payne was on any golf course,” former Canadian touring professional Jim Nelford told me in an interview a few years ago. “The cap gave him away. It was big part of his persona.”

That said it was eerie turning on the television last week to FOX’s coverage of the U.S. Amateur. Wearing that Hogan cap, made by Kangol, DeChambeau looked uncannily like Stewart, a two-time major champion who tragically died in a plane crash on October 25, 1999 in South Dakota.
He’s also about the same height and bears a striking facial resemblance to the flamboyant PGA Tour player. I’m not the only one who thinks so either.

“If you didn’t know his name and just saw him while watching from the grill room, you’d want to know more about what this guy is all about,” said Canadian golf fashion analyst Mike McAllister of Chapeau Noir Golf. “The Kangol/driver’s cap certainly makes him stand out – and he’s on record for wanting to wear something different – which you have to admire. But even without the hat, the way he carries himself is really reminiscent of Payne Stewart. Call it confidence or swagger, DeChambeau has a presence, the ‘it’ factor.”

The day he turns professional DeChambeau will have a number of endorsement suitors waiting in the wings, cheque books in hand. Clearly, his resume as U.S. Amateur and NCAA champion, a feat only Jack Nicklaus, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods and Ryan Moore, have accomplished in a single season, will be a determining factor in what business partners he aligns with and how much money he’ll get.

But so will his charismatic, unique points of difference. In that regard DeChambeau has raised the bar extremely high.